


Pinprick

by orphan_account



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Hitler, M/M, Nazis, World War 2, World War II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-21
Updated: 2016-05-21
Packaged: 2018-06-09 20:52:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6922942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During Wold War II, the prosecution of gay and lesbian individuals was not as public as that of the Jews, but it was still quite common. Eren and his boyfriend, Levi have been careful, but careful enough? </p><p>Just a one-shot type thing, I guess.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pinprick

**Author's Note:**

> Just in case, before hand, I'd like to clear some thing up.
> 
> The Holocaust is a very touchy subject for some people; that's completely understandable. I'm really just experimenting with the subject of two people being separated during that era in this story. Basically, if you're going to be touchy about it, I suggest not reading this story. 
> 
> The Holocaust is not romantic and I tried very hard not to write it that way. 
> 
> Enjoy.

Eren had found that the bombs terrified Levi more than anyone. 

The two men huddled against each other. They were surrounded by other people, but the basement was dark, and no could see them. Levi also disliked the dark, though he would never admit it. There wasn't a pinprick of light down here, but at least he had Eren for comfort. 

A rumble sounded, and Eren felt the small man next to him flinch. He touched the his black hair gently, trying to comfort his boyfriend. Levi flicked his head away from Eren's hand. "Cut it out." Eren smiled gently. There was another rumble, this one much closer. The floor trembled, and an anxious titter of noise filled the room. Levi buried his face in Eren's side. 

He was ashamed, really. It was an embarrassment to be affected by a simple sound so much, especially for a man like him. This didn't stop the bombs from terrifying him. Levi couldn't fight off bombs. He couldn't protect Eren from explosions. And anything that was capable of taking Eren from him was something worth being afraid of. 

The rumbling stopped. Levi felt too exposed here, even though he was in a basement, far from anything happening above ground. This walls of this house were made of wood. He imagined an explosion here. The walls would be torn away from the ground like that of a house of cards. It was hardly any protection at all. 

"Levi?" He lifted his head as an answer. "Tomorrow, I'm gonna make you breakfast."

"We haven't been able to afford breakfast in a month." 

"True. Pretend I'm going to make you breakfast tomorrow."

"Eren, what is the point of this?" A loud boom. The house trembled, and something upstairs shattered. Levi hid his face under his arms, and Eren pulled the shaken man into his arms, which Levi consented to for once. 

"The point is to distract you. What do you want for breakfast?" 

"... Eggs." Levi decided after a few moments. "And toast."

"Anything else?"

"Tea."

"What kind of tea?" The was another rumble, but this one was farther off. Levi fell silent, consumed by his fears for a moment. "Levi, what kind of tea?"

"Chai." 

The sirens wailing outside stopped abruptly. Heads quickly lifted from between knees, and relived whispers filled the basement. Levi let out a breath he didn't know he's been holding. "Thank God. Let's go home now."

"Sure." Eren pulled himself up, and felt his joints creek as he stretched them. Levi was up next, bouncing on the balls of his feet. The dark, cramped basement made the short man feel uncomfortable and claustrophobic, and pure anxiety fueled him. Still, there was a line up the stairs. Levi bounced the whole way. 

The air smelled of faintly of smoke when the pair reached the streets. Eren folded his arms around himself to shield his chest and hands from the biting cold; it was November, and Germany had reached what felt like a record cold. As the small crowd of neighbors that had gathered in the basement dispersed, Eren and Levi felt the tension drain out of them. When they were sure they were the only ones around, they laced their hands together. Levi's eyes lulled downward a bit; Eren could tell he was tired. His nerves had been keeping him up lately, and dark circles had appeared under his eyes. 

They walked about a mile, part the market, which no one could afford, past the rich people's houses and the Red Cat Cafe, which had dropped its prices but also wasn't affordable, to their apartment. It was in a large building, run down with age. The outer walls were painted with cracked white paint. Levi stared, expressionless, up at the red, swastika adorned flag hung from the top floor. Home sweet home, he thought gloomily. 

~•~

The persecution of homosexuals in Nazi Germany was less public than that of the Jews, but people still noticed when their neighbors were dragged from their homes for no apparent reason. Before Hitler came into power, it was completely for normal for two men or women to live together, or if they were being obvious about it, most people were kind enough to turn a blind eye. 

Those were the days. 

Levi woke up at eight, to an aroma he hadn't experienced in months. He sniffed the air again to be sure; before sliding out of bed. His feet immediately numbed with contacts with the floor; he ignored the familiar sensation, pulled a shirt over his head, and shuffled out of the bedroom that he and Eren shared. 

"Are those ... _eggs?_ " Levi asked incredulously. Eren turned. A sheepish smile was painted across his face. 

"Good morning."

"Where the hell did you get eggs?" Eren leaned across the tiny kitchen to gently peck his boyfriend on the lips. Levi allowed himself to be kissed, but fixed Eren with a look. "The eggs. Where."

"I ... found a little extra money, and I thought I would treat you." 

Levi knew that he was lying, and that he'd stolen them. He knew by the desperate smile pasted across Eren's face, the pleading in his brilliant green eyes. Let's pretend I bought them, they said. Let's pretend that everything is alright. 

He sighed quietly, slipping an arm around Eren's waist. Levi leaned his against the taller man's shoulder. "Things are gonna get better, I promise," Eren murmured. 

"I love you." Levi's features had somehow configured themselves into expressionlessness. His grey eyes stared, unfocused, at the wall.

"I love you, too." 

~•~

The day was dull and grey, and neither of the men had work, so they went back to bed. Levi read, and Eren watched him. Levi needed reading glasses, and Eren thought they made him look even more attractive. The younger man played with Levi's hair until he swatted him away. Eren had no love for books, so he curled against Levi, feeling his eyes close at the comfortable warmth of him. Levi wrapped an arm around Eren's shoulders, feeling his warm breath become relaxed and even. Eren's face looked so young when he was asleep, barely the 23 that he was. Levi couldn't comprehend how the man this young, with so much potential, so much love, had somehow attached himself to him, of all people. He was 5 years older than Eren, though it didn't seem like much at first, Levi was almost thirty. What was he doing, dating a young guy like Eren? What was he doing dating a _guy_?

They'd made a plan a long time ago, when they first started seeing each other, that if they decided it was working out, they would find a couple of homosexual women, and if they consented, marry them. Then they could all live together. It was a stupid plan, a childish plan. And Levi clung to it, for it was the only way that he could be happy. He shifted his weight slightly, and Eren sighed unhappily in his sleep. Levi smiled, reaching down to push his mahogany hair off of his forehead. Eren's eyes flickered open. "Mm." He groaned quietly. Levi brushed the hair from his forehead, feeling adoring boil in his stomach. "You ..." He trailed off.

"Me," Eren agreed in a self-satisfied voice. Levi rolled his eyes as his boyfriend cupped his face in his hands. He frowned suddenly frowned, lightly catching Eren's wrist. "What happened to your hands?" His knuckles were scraped and bruised. Eren glanced away from him, and Levi cupped his hand in palms, staring at his boyfriend sternly. "Quit getting into fights. I worry about you." 

"Alright, alright." Levi kissed him gently, and Eren responded, wrapping his hands around Levi's waist to pull him closer. The older man's hands grasped at the back of Eren's neck. 

He squeaked in surprise as Eren grabbed his butt. Eren broke off laughing as Levi glared at him. "You still haven't let go of my butt." 

Eren laughed and buried his face in Levi's neck, which made his cheeks flush for some stupid reason. "You know I love you a lot, right?" The boy's soft lips brushed Levi's collar bone and he felt his face redden further. 

"I-"

There was a crash outside.

Eren jolted awake, and Levi sat up, yanked off his glasses. The two exchanged a glance, before Eren slipped from the bed, and walked cautiously into the hall. 

Men in green uniforms. 

His eyes widened and he attempted to run toward the kitchen, but hands clamped around his arms from behind. "What are you doing?" he snapped, trying to jerk his arms away. "Let go of me!"

Levi rushed into the hall. "What is the meaning of this?" The short man asked, his eyes narrowing. Levi was terrifying when he was angry, but the Nazis surrounding him didn't flinch. 

"Levi Ackerman and Eren Jeager are arrested under suspicion of unlawfulness and homosexuality." 

For a moment, Levi couldn't breath. 

This couldn't be happening to him. Not to him. He's been careful- they both had. Eren ... There were still things he wanted to do! He wanted to kiss him again, and cuddle again. They wouldn't take Eren from him, right?

His face turned as pale as a sheet, and suddenly he was rushing toward Eren, trying to pull him away from the men holding him. Eren's face was pleading and small, _young, so young for 23 years_ , but hands were pulling Levi away from him, and suddenly there was no energy left in the man. This can't be happening to me. Eren screamed and struggled as they dragged him out of the apartment, down the stairs, into the street where a two trucks waited. Levi was being hauled toward one of them and Eren was being dragged toward the other one. 

"This can't be happening," Levi murmured. Only minutes ago, he'd been in bliss, marveling at how beautiful Eren was. _How had this happened? How had things got south so fast?_ They'd begun to hit Eren with batons; tears dripped from his chin and nose as the weapons made contact with his skin. Blood dripped from his nose. 

_They'll take him away,_ Levi thought as he watched his boyfriend struggle against the men holding him, hooking his around feet around the edge of the truck to stay in place. _They'll take him away and kill him. They'll put a pink tag on him and you'll never be able to see him again._

"Things are going to get better, I promise." 

His fists clenched, breath quickened.

The soldiers' grip on Levi had relaxed when they decided that he wasn't going to fight back. He yanked himself away now, and tore across the street, to Eren, who had broken away as well. The two men collided, clinging to each other as they cried. "You promised!" Levi sobbed, holding Eren's face him his hands. "You promised things would get better!" 

"I'm so sorry! I love you!" And then the Nazis were on the them again, holding them back, tearing them away from each other. "Take care of yourself! Please!"

"NO! No, let go of me!" Levi wriggled stretched his hand toward Eren. "Let go of me, get off of me, please!" Tears streamed down his face. "You can't!

"HE'S ALL THAT I HAVE!"

He was shoved roughly into the back of a truck, and the door was shut. Then rumbling started, and the truck took of so fast that Levi was thrown against the back wall. His head smacked it; he crumpled, sobbing, to the ground. The only sound, besides the wheels of the truck on the ground, was Levi's desperate, gasping breaths. He felt achingly familiar anxiety gripping his chest as the situation became more clear to him. 

There wasn't even a pinprick of light in here, and Levi was alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Well sHIT that was emotional difficult to write.
> 
> Sorry for closing up the age gap between the two lmao
> 
> Anyway, this is my first work on AO3! I also have a shared profile on Quotev, which is linked in my bio. Hope you enjoyed this. Feedback would be amazing.


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